"Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort."

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and the other participants in the Constitutional Convention never envisioned that American citizens would betray their country, WITHOUT being in the service of a foreign enemy. Given the conditions of the time, it is easy to see why. Unfortunately, this no longer holds.

Donald Trump is caught. He understands that he and his family members are going to lose a lot of money. He, and they, may even go to prison. And, whether he is a convicted felon or not, his legal difficulties are never going to end, right up to the day he dies. The rest of his life is programmed, and it will be a well-deserved living hell.

He is now engaged in an open campaign to attack the United States and ordinary Americans, out of spite. Of course, there is the question of if he is acting as a foreign agent for Vladimir Putin and Russia (not formally our Enemy), but at this point we are beyond even that. He's trapped, he knows it, and he is lashing out.

No matter the Constitutional definition, Donald Trump is perpetrating treason, and needs to be stopped. It is ridiculous that we have to wait for Robert Mueller. As soon as the Democrats take control of the House they should not only start impeachment proceedings, they should accuse him, loudly and repeatedly, of purposefully harming the country. Call him what he is: A fucking traitor.

Since taking office, Trump has sought to destroy our democratic institutions. He has worked to undermine out international alliances, weakening our national security. In recent weeks, he has been making announcements specifically designed to hurt the stock market. The subtext is: If I am going to be suffer, so are you. And together with the interest-rate ideologue that he appointed at the Fed, Jerome Powell, he is succeeding. Trump and Powell have already broken the market. Next, they are going to break the economy - force it into a recession.

For the market, this is the worst December since 1931, during the Great Depression. It is hard to imagine that the developing economic tumult could get as bad as that, but who knows. The future is unpredictable. But one thing is clear: The Trump presidency represents a 100 year low point. He will be savaged by history. So too will his enablers, the Republican Party.

Some people might say, who cares about the market - that's for the rich. That's not true. Over half of Americans own stock, and they all have less money now, and hence less confidence. The economy will suffer. We don't want the 1% to lose a bit of their wealth through a market collapse that hurts everyone; instead, we want to confiscate the majority of their assets through high taxes.

Trump is a traitor, of a scale and nature unlike any America has ever experienced. He needs to be punished. Ideally, he would resign, but because of his pathology this won't happen. (No one should ever be confused again about the abnormal psychology of egomania.) Barring that, there is the possibility that the never-ending pressure will cause him to have a heart attack or a stroke. Otherwise, he must be impeached, or removed in some other way.

Looking forward, the Republican Party, the party of misogynists, racists, Neo-Nazis, Neo-Confederates, fanatical Christian true believers, pedophiles and rapists, and supporters of dictatorship, should be destroyed. (Many current Party members would have applauded John Wilkes Booth.) Given the damage it is doing to America, this is certainly possible in 2020. Instead, a new, truly enlightened, second major party should be established (a redo of Teddy Roosevelt's Progressive Party?), to form an opposition to the centrist Democrats. Such a structure would prepare the country to adequately address the mammoth challenges that we now face.